Category Archives: Trip Reports

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Happy Mother’s Day! Let’s Celebrate with an Amazon Gift Card Giveaway [10 Winners Announced]

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Updated 6am PT on 5/15: 10 winners announced, please scroll down to see the winning comments.

Good morning everyone and happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s out there – especially my mom!  I might be a bit biased, but I think know I have the best mom in the world!  My parents got me hooked on travel at a very young age and my love for travel has only grown larger as I have gotten older (and the ability to earn thousands of miles and points from credit card sign up bonuses has helped too).  There are so many family trips around Europe, to various tropical Caribbean Islands, and long road trips around California, picking a favorite family vacation would be impossible.  Every trip is special in one way or another.

To celebrate Mother’s Day and to give you all a chance to brag about your mother’s, I decided to set up an Amazon Gift Card Giveaway.  Read on to find the details of the giveaway…

a group of people holding drinks

My family in St. Kitts (my dad is taking the photo).  Cheer’s to all the moms out there!

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Are You Spending Too Much Time in Hotels?

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Good morning, everyone. Thought I’d start the day by asking you a question. But first some backstory.  A few days ago, a friend asked me if I’d heard about something happening in the news and I replied, “Yup, I saw something about it in a hotel elevator news feed the other day.” Seemed like a “normal” reply and then a few hours later I realized what I had replied. Yikes. Hotel elevators were becoming my news source. Now that’s a scary thought. I’ll admit to being on the road a lot these past few months. I’ve been traveling a ton and well, I do have a tendency to glance up at those screens. Mostly I’m looking for the weather, but one can’t help but take in the other news as well.

I shook my head and laughed after remembering this conversation and then I wondered if anyone else has an answer to the question… How would YOU know you’re spending too much time in hotels??

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Reminder: OC Travel Hackers Meetup Saturday, May 12 @ 12pm at In-N-Out (Tustin District)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday.  I just wanted to remind everyone that I will be flying down to Orange County this weekend for Mother’s Day, so I decided to do a travel hackers meetup on Saturday afternoon.  If you are free tomorrow, I would love to meet you and talk travel, miles, points, MS, and blogging.

  • Where: 2895 Park Ave, Tustin, CA 92782 (Google Maps)
  • When: Saturday, May 12 @ 12-2PM

In-N-Out Tustin District Map

There is no need to RSVP to the OC travel hackers meetup, just show up at 12pm and be ready to talk talk travel.  I hope to see some of you there.  Have a great day everyone.

a red text with a cross

OC Travel Hackers Meetup Saturday, May 12 @ 12pm at In-N-Out (Tustin District)

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  I will be flying down to Orange County this weekend for Mother’s Day, so I decided to do a travel hackers meetup on Saturday afternoon.  If you are free this Saturday, I would love to meet you and talk travel, miles, points, MS, and blogging.

  • Where: 2895 Park Ave, Tustin, CA 92782 (Google Maps)
  • When: Saturday, May 12 @ 12-2PM

In-N-Out Tustin District Map

There is no need to RSVP to the OC travel hackers meetup, just show up at 12pm and be ready to talk talk travel.  I hope to see some of you there.  Have a great day everyone.

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Music to My Ears, But Not in a Hotel Lobby

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I spend quite a bit of time in hotel lobbies. Yes, sometimes in them and sometimes just walking through them. This past week I saw something strange in a hotel lobby and I can’t decide how I feel about it. I’m curious what you think. I was staying at a Hyatt Place, which I’d describe as a nicer than average Hyatt Place. In the evening from my room I could hear cello music. It was between 8 and 9 PM. Then the next night I was in the rear lobby area eating a dinner salad and I heard cello music. As I walked past the front desk, there in the main entry way where there are a few seats and a table, was the cello player. He had some kind of recorded music apparatus playing a classical music song and he was practicing his cello part. This just struck me as so odd.

a person playing a cello

Image source: http://www.crystalgraphics.com/powerpictures/images.photos.asp?ss=cello

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